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October 11, 2007

City of Pawtucket faces wrongful-death claim

PAWTUCKET -- The family of the woman who died waiting for a Fire Department rescue truck has put city officials on notice it intends to file a wrongful death claim.

In legal papers, Stephen M. Rappoport, the lawyer for the family of Maria G. Carvalho, charged that the city, through its employees, two rookie fire dispatchers, displayed “gross, willful, or wanton negligence,” failing to send an ambulance until Mrs. Carvalho bled to death

Despite three 911 calls, Rappoport said, the rescue truck wasn’t dispatched for at least 20 minutes. “By the time Maria G. Carvalho received the help that was requested, it was far too late and she bled to death before emergency personnel arrived.”

The notice of claim comes as city officials brace themselves for a lawsuit from the Carvalhos, who said in interviews they were bewildered by the delay they encountered getting a rescue truck the morning of Sept. 20, when Mrs. Carvalho, a 53-year-old kidney patient, began to bleed from a shunt, or bypass, inserted so she could undergo dialysis treatment.

The notice of claim was filed more than a week ago, after it was reported that the two fire dispatchers on duty at the time of the incident -- Sean P. Mooney and Christopher A. Jeffrey -- had been fired by the administration of Mayor James E. Doyle.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:04 PM | Permalink

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